![The Voe, Foula - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/The_Voe%2C_Foula_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1712511.jpg)
John Sands (1826–1900) of
Ormiston
Ormiston is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, near Tranent, Humbie, Pencaitland and Cranston, located on the north bank of the River Tyne at an elevation of about .
The village was the first planned village in Scotland, founded in 1735 ...
was a
Scottish freelance
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and artist who also had an interest in
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
and folk customs, especially the way of life on
Scottish islands
This is a list of islands of Scotland, the mainland of which is part of the island of Great Britain. Also included are various other related tables and lists. The definition of an offshore island used in this list is "land that is surrounded by ...
. He spent almost a year on
St Kilda and lived on several other remote islands.
St Kilda
St Kilda is an isolated outlying archipelago in the
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...
of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, and Sands played an important role in bringing the plight of the islanders to the world's attention. On his second visit Sands became stranded there in the winter of 1876–7, and during that time invented the "mailboat" by attaching a message to a
lifebuoy
A lifebuoy is a life-saving buoy designed to be thrown to a person in water, to provide buoyancy and prevent drowning. Some modern lifebuoys are fitted with one or more seawater-activated lights, to aid rescue at night.
Other names
Other nam ...
salvaged from the wreck of the ''Peti Dubrovacki'' and throwing it into the sea. His book ''Out of the World'' was published in 1878 after his two visits to the archipelago in 1875 and 1876–7.
![St Kilda mailboat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/St_Kilda_mailboat.jpg)
In 1877 he excavated the ''Taigh an t-Sithiche'', an
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
souterrain
''Souterrain'' (from French ''sous terrain'', meaning "under ground") is a name given by archaeologists to a type of underground structure associated mainly with the European Atlantic Iron Age.
These structures appear to have been brought northw ...
. This unearthed the remains of gannet, sheep, cattle and limpets amidst various stone tools. The building is between 1,700 and 2,500 years old, which suggests that the St Kildan diet had changed little over the millennia. Indeed, the tools were recognised by the St Kildans, who could put names to them as similar devices were still in use. He publicly supported the St Kildans by, for example, writing to ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...
'' newspaper criticising
MacLeod of Dunvegan, the island's landlord, for exploiting the residents. He also discovered that the Kelsall Fund, a bequest set up in 1860 to support the island's infrastructure, was unknown to the islanders more than fifteen years later and argued that those who paid taxes on tobacco and
whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...
were entitled to public services such as postal deliveries. It is possible his visits to St Kilda were in part prompted by his romantic interest in a young woman who lived there.
Sands spoke a little
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
and his only reading material whilst there was a Gaelic bible. He spent nearly a year on St Kilda all told, but his outspoken views created enemies. For example, George Seton published ''St Kilda'' in 1878 and:
using ridicule, traditional right-wing rhetoric and sarcasm, he sought to discredit Sands, calling him 'the theoretical philanthropist' and mocking his claims to divine inspiration.
Nonetheless, Sands's efforts were influential in creating a regular steamer service to
Hirta
Hirta ( gd, Hiort) is the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago, on the western edge of Scotland. The names (in Scottish Gaelic) and ''Hirta'' (historically in English) have also been applied to the entire archipelago. Now without a perman ...
, the only permanently settled island of the St Kilda group.
Other islands
![Papa Stour 1890](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Papa_Stour_1890.jpg)
Sands also spent time on the remote Scottish islands of
Vaila
Vaila (Old Norse: "Valey") is an island in Shetland, Scotland, lying south of the Westland peninsula of the Shetland Mainland. It has an area of , and is at its highest point.Haswell-Smith, Hamish. (2004) The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh. Canong ...
,
Papa Stour
Papa Stour ( sco, Papa Stour) is one of the Shetland Islands in Scotland, with a population of under fifteen people, some of whom immigrated after an appeal for residents in the 1970s. Located to the west of mainland Shetland and with an area o ...
and
Foula
Foula (; sco, also Foola; nrn, Fuglø), located in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland, is one of the United Kingdom’s most remote permanently inhabited islands. Owned since the turn of the 20th century by the Holbourn family, the island wa ...
in
Shetland
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
, and also lived on
Tiree
Tiree (; gd, Tiriodh, ) is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of and a population of around 650.
The land is highly fertile, and crofting, alongside tourism, and ...
in the
Inner Hebrides
The Inner Hebrides (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Na h-Eileanan a-staigh'', "the inner isles") is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, whic ...
and the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
. Whilst on Foula he fought hard against the prevailing
truck system
Truck wages are wages paid not in conventional money but instead in the form of payment in kind (i.e. commodities, including goods and/or services); credit with retailers; or a money substitute, such as scrip, chits, vouchers or tokens. Truck ...
and created political cartoons lampooning its deficiencies. In one, he drew Foula as a beautiful young woman being strangled by a boa-constrictor labelled 'landlordism' watched by other reptiles called 'missionary', '
laird
Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...
' and 'truck'.
Later career
Sands spent the rest of his career as a freelance journalist, artist and poet, writing humorous articles for ''
Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pun ...
'' magazine. He is occasionally described as a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
. This may be due to a misinterpretation of his appointment in 1876 by the people of St Kilda as their ''fear-ionaid'' or representative in their attempt to arrange for a steamer to call twice yearly at the island. Seton mockingly described him as the "M.P. for St Kilda".
[Seton, George (1878) ''St Kilda''. Edinburgh. Page 27. Se]
Google books search
Retrieved 8 October 2007.
References
;General references
* Fleming, Andrew (2005) ''St Kilda and the Wider World: Tales of an iconic island''. Macclesfield. Windgather Press.
* Maclean, Charles (1977) ''Island on the Edge of the World: the Story of St. Kilda''. Edinburgh. Canongate.
* Steel, Tom (1988) ''The Life and Death of St. Kilda''. London. Fontana.
;Specific references and notes
Further reading
* Sands, J. (1877
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Art. Edinburgh. Published in book form as ''Life in St Kilda or Out of the World'' in 1878.
* Sands, J. (1877) ''Notes on the Antiquities of St Kilda''. P.S.A.S. Vol 12.
* Seton, George (1878) ''St Kilda''. Edinburgh.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sands, John
1826 births
1900 deaths
Scottish journalists
19th-century British journalists
British male journalists
19th-century British male writers
People from Ormiston